Rockridge (Oakland) and downtown Berkeley are two worlds apart-considering their geographical closeness.
If you settle near the University-there are a plethora of cheap, palatable eats on telegraph and shattuck. you will be able to suss them out yourself. But there is a lot of crap, also.
If you choose Rockridge- the food gets exponentially better but so the prices go up. Rockridge/Elmwood is an eden of good food and shops and neighborhood bliss-but your neighbors are, for the most part, rich. On the plus side-rockridge has 3-4 dive bars (yes, divier than the graduate) and you will not be wanting for cheap drinks. (I could name them for you- but isn't it better you take a stroll down college- south of the rockridge bart station and discover them yourself? trust me-you will find them.)
as far as public transportation, especially considering your 2 top choices, I would invest in a so-so street bike and a great lock. Both of these areas are very bikable and (esp. berkeley near the university) are veritable hells for cars.
most of the posters on this fabulous web site extravaganza are from sf- so take a local girl's advice. when you arrive-take the bicycle/local approach and get acclimated-and
once you are more settled, more aware of your financial/logistical realities-and more at home in your neighborhood-than branch out and hit the bus to fruitvale (well worth it) and the bart to oakland's chinatown
hit the farmers markets- even if you choose berkeley- bike to the temescal farmers market on saturday and meet all the foodies and eat up.
Rest assured- the good food is not going anywhere. settle in, take the pulse, and see what is in front of you.

than let all the recommendations come flowing in.

1. i think breakfast at homemade cafe is consistently yummy. true, there is a long wait on the weekends (isn't that true for most good b'fast places, though)-but there is usually counter space and it is fun to watch the long time cooks at the grill. forewarned-this place is scruffy in atmosphere-which i think is a plus-also has a great mix of people.
2. rick and annes-yes: long wait, terrible parking (ride your bike) -and more expensive than others-but the breakfast is top notch (i waited tables there for a year and never got sick of the food-if that says something)
3. the egg shop in montclair-great service usually and a cool ceiling toy train
4. west side bakery
5 and one no vote-rudy's can't fail cafe-everyone seems to like this place and i can't figure out why-after 5 tries and five mediocre results-i have given up

thank you all. very appreciative. will check out duartes and san benito.

It has all been said before-but, in terms of food, you will not be losing a thing moving to the east bay-only changing up your routine.
Berkeley Bowl, Market Hall in Rockridge, the many farmer's markets(without the tourists), Monterey Fish Market, a bunch of great bakerys, the Chesseboard, Cole coffee, and other food purveyors assure you that you will never have enter a chain grocery store-unless by choice.
As far as eating out-well only a fool would think that their options died out across the bridge. Downtown/uptown Oakland keeps sprouting new places-not to mention the old Berkeley stalwarts, Elmwood and Rockridge Districts, Peidmont and Grandlake.
Food-wise-you will be well taken care of. Just do not move to downtown Berkeley-aside from a couple of decent eateries-the place is a wash.

Hi there. This coming Fri., after hiking in Santa Cruz, I am hoping to find a good place to eat on or near Highway 1 on the way back to SF. There will be 8 or so of us, no kids. Yummy food (obviously), full bar, non-pretentious,decent vegetarian options, and great ambience are all a plus. Looking to feel like we are away from the city. Some of us (that would be me) are bigger food snobs than others-but we all enjoy fantastic food and at least attentive service.
thanks
(I am a first time poster here..not much for discussion boards by nature-but who the heck doesn't want to talk about food? Anyways-if i have not posted correctly I apologize. The other recent posts on topic I could find were about lunch)